


romanov eyes

by hellocarolhere



Category: Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Gleb misses Anya, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 00:31:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17131619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hellocarolhere/pseuds/hellocarolhere
Summary: And then he sees her. A tiny girl in the middle of the crowd, with strawberry blond hair and a worn-out coat. He can swear his heart stops for a second before he can hear it ringing in his ears like church bells, and he's almost surprised nobody else is listening.His body is its own entity now, for his brain has clearly stopped working."Anya!" he called out. But she must have not listened, because she just keeps on walking. Gleb starts running after her, barely able to breathe.She came back to Russia. She came back to me.





	romanov eyes

   Leningrad has not changed, but Gleb Vaganov feels like it is a completely different city the moment he steps out of the train station. Gorlinsky is already waiting for him, dressed in civilian clothing, with a cigarette between his lips. For one moment, Gleb is sure he is going to die. They will take him to a dead-end room and shoot the back of his head. A simple and quick death, almost surgical in its precision. He knows the procedure. He's done it before. Instead, Gorlinsky just smiles and pats him on the back.

   "Your father would be proud, Vaganov." He congratulates him for finishing the job, and Gleb can barely feel his mouth when he smiles.

   The rumors in St. Peterburg — _Leningrad_ , Gleb quickly corrects himself — come to an end when the Dowager Empress finally calls off the reward, and all of his fellow Bolsheviks clap when he enters the office for the first time since Paris. He accepts all the praise with tight smiles and few words, and when someone makes a joke about "that Romanov bitch", his laugh is louder than it should be.

 

   He continues to do his patrols, but it isn't quite the same. He had been right before: Leningrad hasn't changed at all. But as his eyes search the Nevsky Prospekt, his chest tightens with the sudden realization that _there is something missing_. It is a strange panic that threatens to overpower him, but one that doesn't last. He sees a small girl sweeping the street, and it's like he can finally breathe again, his lungs filling with oxygen so quickly he almost feels dizzy.

   Of course, the girl is not her, he is perfectly aware of that. But Gleb finally knows what's been missing, and reprimands himself for being so stupid. He remembers her bright blue eyes, full of hope and longing and—

    _No_ , he stops his own thoughts before they go too far. _Don't forget those bright blue eyes are the Romanov eyes, Vaganov. Put yourself together._

   Gleb Vaganov, of course, does not put himself together. Day after day, he ignores the emptiness inside his ribcage and walks through the Nevsky Prospekt with the pride of the man who killed the last Romanov. He hides the truth so well that the lie almost starts to feel real. It's almost 3 a.m. when he wakes up sweating, jumping out of bed so fast that his vision is obscured by black dots. In the nightmare, he shoots her with no regrets. Her blood stains his clothes as he holds her, waiting for his father to finish digging the grave. They dump her there together, and his mother watches with disappointment written all over her face.

   He bathes himself, relief coursing through his veins when the water doesn't turn red.

   He's patrolling when it happens. Gleb Vaganov quietly watches the people of Leningrad, pretending he doesn't notice them cowering in fear when they see his uniform. I'm doing the right thing, he tries to convince himself. We will forge a new Russia that will be the envy of all the world. And then he sees her. A tiny girl in the middle of the crowd, with strawberry blond hair and a worn-out coat. He can swear his heart stops for a second before he can hear it ringing in his ears like church bells, and he's almost surprised nobody else is listening. His body is its own entity now, for his brain has clearly stopped working.

   "Anya!" he calls out. But she must have not listened, because she just keeps on walking. Gleb starts running after her, barely able to breathe. _She came back to Russia. She came back to me_. His mind becomes a jumble of disconnected thoughts, _she shouldn't be here it's dangerous_ and _i thought i'd never see her again_ all mixed together to form an incoherent mess.

   "Anya!" he repeats, merely a few paces away from her. She's close now, and he grabs her arm, making her face him. Her eyes widen as she looks at him.

   "Is there anything wrong, officer?"

   The first thing Gleb realizes is that her eyes are not the Romanov eyes. In fact, were it not the strawberry blond hair, this girl would look nothing like Anya. He lets go of her arm as quickly as he grabbed it, the shock hitting him like cold water. _She didn't come back._

   "I am very sorry, Comrade. I have clearly mistaken you for someone else." He gets away from her as fast as possible, shame coloring his cheeks. His eyes become moist, and he orders himself to stop crying before he even starts.

 

   It's not too long before Gleb Vaganov gets himself a red passport from one of the conmen he used to despise, with the words Konstantin Vasiliev written on it. He takes the train to Paris one last time and tries to figure out where to go next. He spends a week in the city, pretending he's just a normal tourist. He even visits the Louvre. There is no denying how much Gleb misses Russia, but here he feels like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders, and finally, he can breathe again. On his eighth day, he's walking down the Champs-Élysées quarter when he sees the Pont Alexandre III. Something inside him begs him to cross it, and he complies without a second thought.

   The bridge is beautiful, but that's not what captures his attention. Looking at the river, there is a girl with strawberry blond hair and a blue dress. Gleb looks away, cursing himself. Not even in Paris, he can escape the ghosts of the past. What had he been thinking, going back to the city where he almost killed her? He closes his eyes, hoping that when he opens them the girl will have disappeared.

   "Gleb?"

  _No. It can't be_. His eyes open, but he doesn't look at her direction. He must be imagining things. It wouldn't be the first time, that's for sure. But then he hears her again.

   "Gleb, is that you?"

   And finally, he looks at her. Her hair is braided and the blue dress accentuates her Romanov eyes. She looks exactly like royalty, and Gleb is certain punching him would have been nicer.

   "Anya, I— "

   "What are you doing here? You should be in Russia." He takes a deep breath, struggling for the right words. He thought she had left Paris with that con man. He could never guess he'd see her again here, of all places.

   "I couldn't stay there anymore. It felt wrong, after everything that happened." She doesn't say anything, just looks at him like she can't even believe he is truly here.

_Yeah, I can't believe I'm here too_.

   "Don't worry, I'm not trying to kill you this time." Anya doesn't laugh, and Gleb wonders if he should tell her it's just a joke. But then an amused smile appears on her face, and he tries not to breathe a sigh of relief.

   "Good to know," she says, and her smile widens. "There's a tea shop just steps from here." He looks at her bright blue eyes and feels the emptiness inside his ribcage slowly disappear.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm kinda new to the Glenya fandom and this is my first fic for them (my first fic in years, tbh) and I really hope you enjoyed it!  
> I didn't even have anything planned, I just finished writing this at 3 am and thought "oh whatever I'm just gonna post it"  
> So this is why it's such a mess :)))


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